Stages of Retirement - What Stage Am I In?

 

I  found out today that researcher Robert Atchley identified the stages of retirement:

Stage 1: Planning. ...

Stage 2: Excitement. ...

Stage 3: Honeymoon. ...

Stage 4: Disenchantment. ...

Stage 5: Reorientation & Stability. ...

I am at the final stages of Stage 1 Planning and waiting to feel the Excitement of Stage 2 soon, very soon.  

What a strange time to retire.  I can't pursue several activities that I had planned in my mind that I could start at this moment.  Right now the pandemic makes going out in the world a dangerous act.  

To be truthful I feel more relief than excitement right now. Maybe there should be an interim stage between Planning and Excitement. 

Stage 1.5: Relief.

At this stage in my life I know several people, family, friends, and colleagues, who have reached retirement before I have. I get a mixed bag of advise from them.  A mixed bag of feelings too.  What different stages are they in at the moment?  

I'll have to see as I progress through the early days and months of retirement if I can relate to the five stages. 

                          

I'm still filling out forms, seeking guidance, making decisions, trying to put things in motion, so that I can finally feel, several days from today, that I am RETIRED.